


A Graceless Spell

by Amydiddle



Category: Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: A witch - Freeform, Gen, Roman's Week, Sanders Sides - Freeform, Some of Roman being heroic, THE EMPIRE IS FALLING a lot, The mind palace is a legit castle, unedited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 20:26:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11767716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amydiddle/pseuds/Amydiddle
Summary: Prince returns from a quest seemingly off. He is falling, breaking things, and just all over being a mess. This causes much concern for the other sides but there is no way he could be cursed. He killed the witch so the magic should not affect him...least he thinks they are dead.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Moved from tumblr

The initial wake up should have been the first clue that something had been off. 

Roman was usually graceful when he awoke. Like an animated princess he would wake with a dramatic yawn, his hair perfect in every way, and birds singing either outside his window or even in  his bed chamber. 

Today was different. The Prince was on his way to return to the mind  ~~palace~~  castle after he had defeated an evil witch. He had not made it back before dark so he felt it wise to set up camp on the side of the trail in the forest. 

No birds sang as he woke up and he woke up in a groggy fashion that would be more appropriate for some of the other sides to wake up like. He did not feel as well rested as he normally felt. He just felt like he needed to get the rock that had found a way to dig in his side away from him. 

He sat up and groaned at the soreness of his muscles. Battles did not usually leave him in such a state.

“I guess she was a tougher fight than I thought,” he mumbled to himself as he popped his back and sighed at the small bit of relief that brought over him.

He moved out from under the blanket he had laid under for the night and stumbled out of the tent. The usual dramatic flair of the creative side foiled as his barefoot snagged on the side of the tent and he fell face first into the dirt road. 

“Blasted tent!” Roman grumbled under the breath and pushed himself to his feet. He glared at the simple tent as if the inanimate object was truly to blame for his face plant. 

“I knew I should have made the deluxe version,” he stated to the empty wood as he brushed the dirt from his once clean silk pajamas. “I guess exhaustion made me foolishly think that any old tent would do.”

* * *

 

He snapped his fingers and the tent disappeared as well as the dirty pajamas that were replaced with his usual princely attire. Usually he did not bother with using his power in his area of the ‘mind space’ but this very unflattering awakening and run his patience thin. 

“Reginald, I believe it is time to-” Roman turned to address the space where his regal white steed should have been tied to a tree but he found the reigns had been cut and the horse no where. 

“Horse thieves! Really? In this part of my wood!” He looked around the dark space and frowned. He could have sworn he had been closer to the castle yesterday not in the thieves usual hang out. “Fine! Whatever! I will just...just walk home.” 

The side moodily made sure his sword was still with him before he started off down the dirty road alone; leaving the tent behind. 

“Don’t they know conjuring a horse is a lot harder when one’s had used most of their power to make a main hub a castle?” he mumbled to himself. “No respect for their prince. I should send a royal guard to flush them out. That’ll show them.” 

Boot covered feet slowly made their way out of the darker part of the wood and into a more familiar territory. The wood had slowly thinned out to show the outskirts of his kingdom. A few farmers were out and about; toiling their land and carts moved down the road towards the communal market. 

He ran a hand through his hair to get out any leaves or dirt that may have gotten stuck during his rest or walk and stood up taller. Roman would not let his people see him in such a miserable state. They would see their prince as he should be seen; strong and victorious. 

His world seemed to have other plans. 

A great roll of thunder rumbled across the suddenly darkened sky and great drops of water began to abuse the earth. The villagers scrambled to get to shelter. The farmer left their crops to be watered naturally by the rain and got their animals back inside. The carts hurried along to get the main village to stay in a shop or pub. 

None of them noticed the now drenched prince. 

“Could this morning get any worse?” Roman grumbled and shook his head as he moved to continue his long walk through all this rain. 

He must have not picked his foot up enough because before Prince knew it he was laying in the muddy path; white clothes now stained brown with the wet dirt. Anger swirled in his gut but he swallowed it down. He had to get back to the main hub and then he would get warm, ask Patton for a cup of cocoa, and stay in his room to sleep the rest of this day away. 

* * *

 

Everyone’s eyes were on Prince. Usually the creative side would be overjoyed with the undivided attention he was getting from the other three sides. They never did pay enough attention to him, in his honest opinion. Today, though, he wished they would look away. 

His walk back had been terrible. The mud had slightly washed off of him because of the rain but the force of the drops had splatted his boots. The brown of the dirty path had also stained his usually white, and currently soaked, outfit. 

“Whoa, Roman, what happened to you?” Patton paused the move he had been watching and stood up from the couch. Concern was in the emotional side’s voice and it showed by the speed that he made his way over to him. 

Roman put on a smile and waved off the concerned hands that wanted to check a small cut he had gotten from a wayward branch on his wave up the hill where the castle sat. 

“It is nothing. I just had a small run in with an elemental in the woods on my way back,” Roman added a laugh that he hoped did not sound too fake, “Threw me into the moat-”

“We have a moat?” 

Roman ignored Virgil’s little add on. “But it is no matter. I just need a change of clothes and something to warm me up.” 

“Say no more,” Patton said with a grin, “You go get a nice shower and change into something super cozy. I will make you some of my extra special hot cocoa.”

“With marshmallows and whipper cream?”

“What kind of special hot cocoas would it be without that stuff?” Morality snorted and pushed him out of the main hub and towards one of the many hallways. “Now go.”

Roman did not go against the ‘order’ of the trait. A sense of calmness had washed over him at the feeling that he was safe again in the mind castle. More peace came over him as he walked into his room and greeted his lovely posters that adorned the walls from their frames. 

He wanted nothing more than to flop onto his bed and fall asleep but in the state he was in that was no an option. He grabbed his most comfortable pajamas from his dresser and moved into the en suite. That is when more trouble began. 

What should have been a relaxing shower was a clumsy nightmare. He tripped over his trousers when getting them off, knocked over his shower’s shelf, almost broke the handle when the water was ice cold on his back, and ripped his sash when he got out of the shower and almost fell over because the floor was slippery. 

 _“What in Walt’s great name is going on here?”_ He thought as he very, VERY carefully got into his pajamas. He clung to the ripped sash as he threw the rest into the laundry basket. He would have to fix this later. 

“Roman! I got your cocoa!” Patton’s voice sang from outside the doorway. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to drink it in here or if you wanted to join us to watch The Avengers.” 

Prince made his way over to the door and gave a weary smile to Morality. Carefully he took the warm mug, his favorite one he noted, and held it in both hands to soak up the warmth. 

“Thank you, Patton, for this and the offer but I am weary from the journey back. I think I want to rest up in here if you do not mind.” +

“Say no more, kiddo. You drink that and sleep; me time is always a good thing to have.” 

Roman nodded with what the heart said and took a sip. That had been a mistake. Too much of the molten chocolate hit his mouth and he felt it as it burned his mouth. 

On instinct his hands let go of the mug and it feel to the floor with a loud smash. The hot cocoa hitting Patton’s shoes and his bare feet. He jumped back with a hand over his mouth as the sting dulled to that uncomfortable swollen feeling. 

“F-!” 

“Oh no!” Patton cut him off, “I’ll get a rag, just don’t move. I don’t want you stepping on any glass.”

Roman watched as Morality walked off quickly and he moved to lean against the door frame but missed. The royal fell, luckily away from the spilled drink, onto his back in his room. 

"What happened? I heard a crash.” 

Roman felt his face heat up in embarrassment at the sound of a anxious side’s voice. It only got worse when he heard the rushed yet methodical footsteps of Logic join the darkly clad side. 

“It appears there was an accident,” Logan stated and Roman had to open his eyes when a shadow fell over him. The prince made a face to see the nerd staring down at him. “Are you seriously hurt, Roman?” 

“Nothing was hurt too badly except-”

“Okay! I got the rag and a broom, also some cold water for your-hey guys!”

Roman sat up to see Patton had returned. He waved off the helping hand to Logic and pulled himself back to his own feet.

“Thank you,” he mumbled. 

“Patton what happened?” Logan asked, “Did you drop the cup when handing it over?” 

Morality shook his head and started to work on cleaning the spilled drink. “No. Roman burnt his mouth and dropped the cup. It happens to the best of us but he is lucky he did not get any of glass on him.”

“Princey dropped a cup?” Virgil said the question with disbelief and looked over at the sulking side. “Really?” 

“It isn’t that impossible, Virgil,” Logic stated as he took the broom from Morality and started to sweep up the shards of the mug. “Sure, Prince is the least likely of us to drop something but it does not mean it won’t happen.”

“Yeah, but you got to admit it is a little weird. He comes back drenched and covered in mud and-”

“I am still here you know,” Roman shouts from his bed and glares at the two that had been mostly engaged in the conversation. “I don’t appreciate all the talk about me when you are not talking to me about me.”

“Fine,” Anxiety said and crossed his arms, “Then what is going on with you?” 

“Nothing is going on with me!” Roman may have used too much flourish with those words and almost knocked over a lamp. He had to move fast to catch it and luckily did. It was a collector’s item after all; it would be terrible if it did smash to pieces. “I am perfectly fine. Merely tired after a long battle. I would appreciate it if you all left now.” 

The other sides looked at each other and than at the prince before they left one by one. The first to leave was Virgil; the side had a blank expression on his pale face which usually meant he was thinking too hard. Logan left next after he made sure all the mug pieces had been swept up. 

Patton left last after he made sure all the cocoa was gone and that Roman was ‘snug as a bug in a rug’, his words not Roman’s. The prince let the strained smile on his face fall as soon as they all left and he flopped back onto his pillows. 

The ramification of that was the lamp he had luckily saved getting shaken and tipping off of the night stand. Ariel’s head went flying off and landed a little ways away; not to mention the bulb was broken. 

“Oh come on!” He covered his face with his hands and took in a shaky breath.

“It’s alright. I will just...rest and than later I can glue her back together,” he mumbled to himself and rolled over so his back was to the broken lamp. “It is just one bad day. I have tomorrow.”

A faint smile lit Prince’s face and he clapped his hands to the lights would dim in his room. 

“Yeah. Tomorrow...tomorrow...I love ya’ tomorrow...you’re always a day...a...way...” 


	2. Chapter 2

A side of a person is more than just the base of their name. While one could be called Creativity or Fanciful as a main origin it can encompass many aspects. It, in an example, could also encompass the self-confidence, the ego, the feminine touches, bravery, romance, and even, just maybe, a partial bit of what one thinks would be the perfect them. 

Of course the side will also harbor slight negative traits such as self-doubt and a constant need of praise but there is some alarm when something is off besides the obvious downsides of being part of a whole. 

It had been little things since the day Roman came home after he went on a quest to defeat a witch. In the past three days he had dropped two bowls, a cup, tripped when going up and down the grand staircase he had created, accidentally smacked Logic in the face when making a grand gesture (which made Anxiety and Morality very amused), and his usual grand entrances seemed to be lacking in the grandness and just left everyone feeling a little awkward.

Every time Princey was confronted with the evidence that something was off about him he would wave it off and blame it on the slow and natural loss of creative energy as Thomas worked through his latest creative buzz. 

No one was convinced about this. 

Logan was not convinced since he remembered those times clearly as if they had happened yesterday. Patton was not convinced because he had lost two of his favorite mugs and really did not want to risk a third. Virgil was not convinced because all the clumsy behavior was usually his job because of what he represented and it was weird seeing his opposite do it. 

They did just did not have a good way to confront the fanciful side about this behavior until Thomas gave them the perfect opportunity. 

* * *

 

Roman had decided the best way to avoid any mess ups was to hide away in his room for a short bit and just not touch anything. Yesterday had he tried to dance along to his Disney mix but ended up tripping and knocking down five of his framed posters. 

Currently he sat on his bed. There was nothing more to that statement. The Prince’s hair was not as perfect as it normally was, his ripped sash hung on the baseboard of the bed in wait of its owned to fix it, and he was still in his pajamas. 

He planned on touching nothing until he figured out what was going on. He did not have long to think about it before he felt a familiar tug on his very being. 

“Oh no,” he said to himself and tried to resist the summons. 

The prince sat stiffly on his bed as he fought against the tug and did not let out a breath until it faded away as Thomas seemingly gave up on bringing him to the physical plane. 

A pitiful groan escaped him when he was left with an emptiness; guilt swarmed his heart. Thomas needed him and probably for something important. He could not leave his person without his aid. What if there was a threat that Thomas needed vanquished or a crush he needed an ear to listen to. 

“No-WHA!?!” Roman stood up fast, his intention to do a heroic pose failing as he almost slipped over a stray sock. He caught himself on the side of his bed and glared at the offending object that had almost ruined his dramatic moment. 

“Anyway,” his voice was annoyed as if the sock could understand how it had offended him. “No! I will not disappoint Thomas in such way!” 

In as much a rush he could go without falling over or hitting his elbow he changed into an outfit suitable for whatever was needed of him while not being in his normal princely regalia. 

A simple yet stylish shirt under a gold jacket would do for now. Never going to be as good as his usual attire but he did not have time to dwell on that fact. The tugging had started again and it was insistent. If he did not show up this time the others would one searching and that was the last thing he needed.

With a deep breath he sunk out of his room and tried to appear in his usual grand entrance kind of way. 

Roman failed at is miserably. He appeared in his normal spot a little too fast and fell backwards into the TV. The poor machine fell with a bang and Roman landed on top of it. 

“The Empire has fallen!” Someone said as soon as he crashed to the floor. Probably Virgil or Patton, in his current shocked state Roman could not tell.

“Whoa, Roman! Are you alright?” 

Roman put on a smile and carefully as he could got up. “I am quiet alright, Thomas. Do not worry, I just overestimated my entrance by a tad.”

“This is the third issue I wanted to bring up with you Thomas,” Logic said from where he stood in front of the hallway, “Roman has been a bit off as of late.”

“Just because I have been a little less than fabulous as of late does not mean we need a whole group meeting to discuss it.” 

Patton and Virgil were just staring at Prince with odd looks on their faces. 

“This was not exactly why I asked you to show up,” Thomas said, “I wanted to go over the recent script that we wrote, look for errors, the usual stuff but I think this is kind of more important.”

“Yeah, but first. Is there something different about you?” Patton asked and put his finger to his chin, “I feel like there is something different.” 

“He’s not wearing his normal stuff, Patton.” Virgil pointed out, “And I don’t like it.”

“No that’s not it.”

Logic sighed and did his best to not roll his eyes at Patton’s obliviousness. He pushed on with his points; taking out a clipboard seemingly from nowhere. 

“You see, Thomas, since Wednesday Roman has been odd. He came back from a fantasy adventure-”

“An epic quest to stop an evil witch!” Roman interjected.

“And upon his return he has been acting strangely. Normal behavior of gracefulness that comes with being your more fanciful side has seemed to depleted. He is showing rates that surpass the clumsiness levels of Patton and even Virgil.”

Thomas glanced at the two sides in question and than back at Logan. 

“And that means?” 

“It means he is breaking things and falling over like crazy,” Virgil stated bluntly, “It was funny at first but not it is just getting annoying. Patton’s mug collection is getting very thin.”

Patton pouted. “I miss my World’s Okayest Dad mug.”

Logan glared at the other two and continued on like they had not talked, “This means there is obviously something wrong with Roman that is beyond just the natural decline in your creative spark. This is an outside force and, as much as I hate to ask, we need Roman to tell us exactly what happened on his ‘magical quest.’.”

Roman had turned his attention to the TV while they had been talking. It had been a terrible thing to see that it was been broken because of his mistake. He stopped his inner speech of despair to turn and look at the four pair of eyes that were staring at him. 

“What?” 

“We wish for you to tell us exactly what you did the day before you became so accident-prone,” Logan stated. 

Roman sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “Before it is ‘Roman, we don’t want hear about your nonsense quests’ and now that things are being broken you want to hear all about them to blame them on this, don’t you?” 

“Well, seeing how none of this happened before you went on that imaginary adventure it is highly likely that something happened while you were out in your created world.” 

“And I do like hearing about what you did while out,” Patton interjected when he saw Roman’s face turn stormy at the simply stated answer from Logic. “And this tale is the most important so we can help you get better.”

“Yeah, Roman, your tales are always the best,” Thomas said with a smile, “They help me when I am feeling down.” 

Roman smiled a little and looked away. A glance being sent to the silent side on the stairs; practically begging for more praise. 

Anxiety sighed in that dramatic way that just told he was not actually mad about this. He shoved his hands into his hoodie’s pockets and looks away with a shrug. 

“I guess they are okay, when you don’t go overboard with the dramatic details.”

Roman brightened instantly and almost seemed to be his old self. “That is good enough for me! Alright here is what happened!”


	3. Chapter 3

_“I awoke on a day like any other; with the amazing grandness that is befitting of any hero and prince…”_

_“Oh please.”  
_

_“Shush, emo nightmare!”  
_

The Prince’s room was a glow in what could only be called a Disney air. He sat up with a dramatic yawn and his arms stretched above his head to get the last of the sleepiness out of his systems. Bids sung happily outside his open window in his castle room. 

‘Oh was a glorious day’ he thought to himself as he left his bed and made his way to his closet to change. ‘A perfect day for a ride.’ 

It did not take him long to get ready for the day. The royal side humming a tune to himself as he exited the room and stepped into the wide hallways of the castle turned mind palace. He was still very proud of this creation even though he could see it was slowly losing some of the details. 

Good things sadly could not last forever. 

“Good morning everyone,” Roman greeted as he stepped into the Great Hall. 

Logan sat at one table on the far left side. He had the newspaper’s crossword in front of him and a cup of coffee. The logical side merely nodded in greeting and went back to his puzzle. On the right side of the hall Virgil sat on the table, not the bench the table, and had his headphones on. He did not seem to hear Princey enter the hall. There was only one real greeting. 

“Morning, Roman!” Patton called from his spot at the head table. The happy side had a large stack of waffles in front of him and seemed quite content with this fact. “Did you sleep well?” 

“I slept wonderfully, Patton, thank you for asking.” Roman chuckled and made his way up to the table. 

He looked over the spread of food and gave an amused smile seeing that the amount of waffles on Patton’s plate had in fact been the all the waffles that had been served to the sides that morning. He decided not to comment on it. 

“I was thinking about taking a ride today. See if any of my subjects need assistance. I have not seen them in quite some time.”

Patton nodded and took a bite of one of his many waffles. 

“I think that sounds like a great idea!”

“You do realize that those people are imaginary. They don’t have a problem unless you create a problem,” Logan added in from his side of the Great Hall. 

Roman laughed in a condescending way and shook his head. 

“Oh Logan, with all your facts clogging your mind you will never understand the joy in creating your own characters. Even when you are not actively thinking about them they are evolving. They change and become more and more beautiful with every passing second.”

“You are right, Roman,  _I am so sad and cold I will never understand the joy of creating and imagination. It is a sad lonely life I live.”_

_“Roman, that did not happen.”  
_

_“Really? That is how I remember it happening, Logan, it was quiet lovely. Who knew you could plead with such grace to be taught the ways of fantasy.”  
_

_“Can we just skip to where you actually went on your quest. We don’t need any of this because obviously nothing happened while you were in our presence before you left.”  
_

_“Fine, if you want to be that way, but you are going to miss Virgil’s declaration that I am better than him in every way.”  
_

_“That did not happen, Princey. Just get on with the story so we can fix this.”  
_

_“Alright. Alright, deny the facts. So after breakfast I left the mind castle on my horse and rode out into my domain of the mindscape where my lovely kingdom resided. From there I learned from one of my nobles that a wicked witch had made themself known in the magical forest that surrounded my land. They had been plaguing my villagers and, naturally, I had to stop them…”_

As soon as Roman heard the news he was off. Reginald’s hooves kicked up dirt as they raced towards the last place the witch had been sighted. He held onto the reigns of his noble steed and reveled in the wind that blew through his hair.

It did not take long to see the signs of an evil presence in his wonderful forest. There had always been a dark part of the wood but the trees here seemed to have been corrupted. They were knotted and dead. 

The creative side slowed his horse down slowly and cautiously surveyed the area. The witch did not seem to be anywhere in sight but he knew not to underestimate an evil force. 

Soon his horse came to a stop and he found himself in an ominous clearing. It did not take a genius to know this is where the final battle would go down. Roman slid off his white steed and patted the nervous horse’s side. 

“Show yourself! There is no use in hiding if you are as powerful as you claim!” 

He hooked the reigns of his horse of a branch of a tree and pulled his sword from its sheath. The side boldly stood in the middle of the clearing and looked around the dark, dead trees that surrounded him. 

Prince frozen when an evil cackle filled the air and he tightened his grip on his weapon. 

A bright light came out of the shadows that surrounded him and the prince only had a second to dodge. The white light nearly grazed his cheek just before it stuck a tree and left a lightning pattern in the back. 

“I was wondering when you would show up, my dear prince,” the witch cackled and came out of the shadows. 

They was disgusting just like the evil they represented. A perfect character to step right out of a story book and the perfect foe for a side that lived in a fanciful world such as this. 

“It was only a matter of time before you came to your people’s aid,” they continued and raised their bent wand. “All part of my plan to be rid of you and take over as the new ruler.”

“A stupid plan. You will never win,” Roman said with confidence and raised his weapon. 

“Why’s that?”

Prince smirked with all the confidence he represented. 

“Because I will stop you,” he stated the words as if they were fact before he charged. 

The first swing was blocked by a powerful spell and he was pushed down to the ground. The royal side rolled out of the way as a blue light came flying at him and hit the ground with a loud bang. 

He was back to his feet in an instant and blocked a red spell with his reflective weapon. The magic bounced back towards the witch who deflected it with their wand. This little delay gave Roman the perfect opportunity to strike. 

His sword swung at them but not before they got the last spell in. Just as it when through their form the pink light hit Roman square in the chest and he fell back as the witch turned to dust. 

Roman laid there for a second, in shock as the magic coursed through his body and slowly disappeared while the black dust slowly drifted down to the ground. The royal side’s hand clutched at his chest as he waited for something to happen. 

When nothing did he slowly stood up with a small wobble and stared down at the dust pile that had been the witch. 

“I told you I would win,” he laughed and turned to head back to his horse. That is when he tripped over his own foot and almost fell onto his sword.

* * *

 

“PAUSE!” 

Everyone in the living room froze and looked over at the side that had shouted the word confused. 

Logan held his hands up, one of them pointed at Roman who was still in the position to continue onto the next word. 

“What? What is it?” Patton asked and looked around the room. 

Logan looked at them all before he pointed at Roman again. “Isn’t it obvious?”

Thomas glanced at his logical side and than at his creative side before he slowly shook his head no in time with Patton and Roman. Two of them had been so wrapped up in the story they had forgotten they were looking for the source of Roman’s sudden clumsiness. Roman was just happy they were listening to his tales.

“The spell.” 

Virgil suddenly saying something made everyone unfreeze in a small jump of fight. Despite the anxious side having been there the whole time it still spooked them that he had suddenly talked after being mostly quiet through this. 

Logan seemed to brighten up when he knew someone else had caught it as well. 

“Exactly, Virgil! The spell, whatever your imaginated witch cast on you before you had killed them must be the source of your clumsiness.” 

Roman’s eyes widened in realization and than when back to confusion. “No, that cannot be correct.”

Logan bristled and stood up taller. “And why not?”

“Because, my land has a rule. If the witch is dead than their magic should die as well. Your spells cannot last unless you are still alive.” 

“But what if they just tricked you to think they are dead?” Anxiety said, “What if you never actually killed them? You just doomed your people because you just accepted the ash pile as being the dead body of the witch. You are going to go back and your village will be gone. And it’s all your fa-.”

“Alright, alright,” Thomas broke in and made the shush gesture to his anxious side, “Enough of that. Even if the witch is still alive I am sure they did not move that fast.”

He took a breath and looked at Roman. “Roman, you need to go back there and slay them. Make sure they are dead.”

“But we don’t even know if this is true!” 

“As much as I hate to admit it, it is the most likely culprit to this sudden clumsy spell,” Logan sighed. 

But,” Patton piped up, “We are going to help you!”

“We are?” The other two sides asked. 

Patton looked over at Logan and Virgil, the cheery look on his face was replaced with the ‘dad look’ as they had dubbed it. A smile that was tense and eyes that demanded no nonsense. 

“Yes we are,” he stated and looked back at Roman with more joy, “We want to to help to make sure you are safe and the spell is broken.” 

Prince looked at the sides in front of him, then at Thomas, and then at the broken TV behind him before he sighed in his dramatic way. 

“Fine. You all can come along but remember this is my quest…and we are going to have to get you better outfits so you will fit in.” 

“Yay! Dress up party!” Patton cheered and sunk out of the living room. 

“I can’t believe I am willingly going into the room of make believe,” Logan muttered and sunk out with a hand massaging his forehead. 

Virgil pulled his hood over his head and sunk out after them with a mutter about how this was going to go terribly. 

This left Thomas and Roman alone. The princely side seemed to lose some of his overconfidence and looked at his host. 

“I am sorry about your television, Thomas.”

Thomas waved off the apology. “It was not your fault, besides I have been meaning to get a new one. You just focus on stopping this curse and taking care of the other sides while you are in there, okay?” 

“You really think this is a good idea?” Prince asked, for once showing his nervousness about a grand scheme. “I mean, I am a small danger to myself right now. There is no telling what can happen inside my domain.”

“Hey, you guys can protect each other. I know you can do it. You’re my heroic side and there is no way you can lose.” 

Roman perked up at the statement and smiled brightly. 

“You are right. I will vanquish this foe and protect my friends,” He posed in his usual fashion. “Thank you, Thomas. I shall see you soon.” 

“Good luck, Roman.” 


	4. Chapter 4

“I feel like I am going to go to wizard school!” Patton squealed happily as he spun around in his new robes. The light blue fabric billowed out around him and made the silver pattern around the hem shine brightly. 

“Yes, those do suit you well,” Roman said as he suppressed a chuckle. At least one of his new ‘party members’ was happy for the costume change and excited to be helping him. 

When they had returned to the mind  ~~palace~~ castle, Princey’s first order of business was to get up off the floor where he had fallen. This time he was sure it is Patton that said the empire joke earlier because he mumbled it to himself now with a few giggles. 

The second order of business was to usher them all along to his room to change into more appropriate outfits for this quest. He was back into his princely garb, which was very important to note.

Logan questioned the functionality of the outfit he had been given but just accepted it as something weird. He did not understand how cool being a paladin was but that was just his own problem. Patton was overjoyed with the robes he had been given and seemed to accept this easily.

Virgil was the most difficult. 

“I am not being a bard.”

* * *

 

Roman looked up at his ceiling and than back at the stubborn side in front of him. “You don’t want to be a rogue either but you are going to have to choose one. Those are the only black things I have.”

“I don’t even want to go.”

“You are wasting time, Anxiety,” Logan called over to the two of them, “Just choose something. We don’t have time for this. The longer this spell stays on Roman the longer everyone is in danger.” 

“Yes. Exactly,” Roman agreed and held out the garments again. “So choose.”

Virgil looked over the two outfits and grumbled as he grabbed one at random. “I’m not going to be happy about this.” 

“Yeah, whatever, Mr. Emo. Just be the rogue and hurry up with it.” 

Roman moved to hand the other outfit back up and let out a VERY MANLY  ~~scream~~  shout as the whole closet fell on top of him. At least that got an amused snort out of the anxious side as he went to change. 

This going to be the long quest. 

“Patton, I could use some assistance.”

“Coming!”

* * *

 

Entering the land of make-believe was something very strange for sides that normally did not go there often. This was, after all, Prince’s kingdom for a reason. When they stepped out of the grand front doors of the castle the three that were not used to this had to take a small moment to adjust. 

While a normal medieval village would have smelled and looked awful this one was a weird mix of modern and fairy tail. People were healthy and happy and the place smelled of roses. The clouds that floated in the impossibly blue sky were perfect in every way and even made easily distinguishable shapes. 

Roman smiled to himself as he watched his friends take in this new world for the first time. 

Patton looked on it with wonderment. The eyes behind his glasses wide with excitement as he took in every vivid detail. Logan looked on it with disbelief. Roman could tell the logical side was having an inner war about what was possible and what this room could do. Virgil seemed to just squint and the bright surroundings as if burned his eyes and than pulled the hood of his new robe over his head to shield his pale face. 

“Welcome to my kingdom,” Roman said with a flourish. His arm went out and almost hit Patton in the face. “Apologies, friend.”

“It is no big thing,” Patton said and pushed the arm away from his face gently, “But we should get a move on. The sooner we get this spell lifted the better you will be.”

“If we can get this spell lifted, Anxiety sighed and his hands twitched. It seems the side realized he did not have pockets to shove them into. 

“Well this is Roman’s creation. I doubt there is any room for bad endings,” Logan said slowly, almost as if he was unsure about the words he is speaking. 

“Exactly, Logan,” Roman chimed in. “Now, to the horses! We have a witch to slay!” 

The prince took out his sword and pointed it dramatically to the side of the castle. He took off without another word at a fast pace. The creative side was very, not anxious, but ready to get this spell off of him so he could return to normal.

Logan and Patton were quick to follow. The two sides not willing to be lost in the unfamiliar world. Virgil followed along at a slow yet brisk pace

“Put that away before you fall and stab yourself!” He called out to Roman. Honestly, how could the guy forget about the spell that fast?

Prince was about to shout about about how that would never happen but stopped himself. With the currently curse over his person there was no telling how deadly some of these accidents could be. To his party’s surprise he actually slowed down and put the sword away. 

“Right,” Roman mumbled and took a moment to breath before the blinding smile returned. “Anyway, choose any steed you would like.” 

He crossed the small distance that remained and pulled open the stable doors. Patton bounded in without much care in the world and looked around at all the different horses in there. He was quickly drawn toward a lovely mare.

“Can I have the brown speckled one, Roman?” 

“Ah, a perfect fit,” Roman smiled and walked over to where his friend stood, “Rosa is a fine lady. Gentle in riding yet powerful when ever someone is in need.” 

“Does that mean yes?” 

Logan shook his head. The logical side had already started to saddle a slate grey horse. “Yes, Patton, that means yes.”

“Oh goodie! Logan, would you help me saddle her?”

Logan sighed and made sure his horse’s saddle was on properly. “Just give me a moment, than I shall assist you.” 

The prince sighed and walked away now that he knew two of them were settled that just left himself to find a new steed since Reginald was gone and-.

“I think I will just walk.” Anxiety said as soon as he walked into the stable.

Roman looked at the darkly clad side with confusion. “Walk!?! You will never be able to keep up with us on our horses. If one were to walk to where I met the witch it would take them almost all the day light. You must pick a horse.”

Anxiety glanced at all the animals in the stable with a small look of...fear? Apprehension? Roman could not tell.He just knew that it was a waste of time and they had to get this spell off him quickly. 

“Look, if you are not going to choose a horse than you will ride with one of us.”

“I think I am fine with keeping both my feet on the ground.”

Roman looked up at the sky in a plea for help before he moved towards a jet black steed. “Ten it is settled you will ride with me.”

“That is even more dangerous then being on the back of an animal! You have a curse that could double the accidents that could happen to us.”

Roman paid Virgil no mind as he began to saddle the horse carefully. “Then that is even more reason for you to be riding with me. To keep me cautious of anything that could happen.”

“But-.”

“No buts, kiddo,” Patton called from atop his horse, “We don’t got time for them.”

Virgil looked around and saw he was out numbered before he gave a groan of annoyance. “Fine. Whatever.”

“That’s sort of the spirit! Glad to see you are coming around,” Roman said. He probably deserved that death glare. 

* * *

 

Riding into the forest for the second time felt like a very strange dream to Princey. With two more horses at his side and a death hug around his waist from his unwilling travel companion he almost did not think this was actually a thing.

But here he was, racing through the forest once again to defeat a witch he had thought he had slain already. This time with his other sides to help him; something he never actually thought would happen. They were technically here to  _save_ him. Save him from the curse that had befallen him. What were the odds that this would-

“Stop thinking and look out for where you are steering this thing!” 

Anxiety’s voice snapped Roman from his musings and the princely side pulled the reigns to direct the horse away from trees and back onto the path. By the looks of how dark the woods was getting they would be near the clearing soon. 

“How much further?” Logan asked as if on queue. 

Roman turned his head to answer but one of Virgil’s arms move to push his face back to facing forward. The prince gave an irritated sigh and held tightly to the reigns of his steed. 

“We should be coming up on it soon,” he said over the wind, “Once there I do not know where to go.”

“This is your world, correct?” Logan shouted back, “If you want them to be there then they should be there. It would make sense in a nonsensical way.”

“Yeah!” Patton shouted, “If they know you are going to figure it out and come back then they should be there.” 

“Unless they aren’t and than we could be coming all this way for nothing. We may never find them.” Virgil clung to Roman tighter as the words left his mouth. It wasn’t that the side was trying to be pessimistic but it was just function.

“Come now, Virgil! This is my world, like Logan said, there will be a happy ending.” Roman said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. 

He snapped the reigns and made the horse go faster. At least, he hoped the witch would be there and he hoped that he could stop them.


	5. Chapter 5

Three horses slowed to a stop in a clearing. The grass that laid there was dead and showed obvious signs of a fight that had once happened on the ground. The dead and knotted trees that surrounded the area gave it a very ominous feeling. 

Prince slowly untangled himself from Anxiety’s tight grip and slid to the ground. Unlike his usual dismounts from a horse he landed clumsily and was lucky enough that Virgil was fast and caught him. 

“Thank you.”

“Whatever,” Virgil mumbled and let go of Prince’s collar once he was sure the side was steady on his feet. 

Logan stopped and dismounted next to them. The side held the reigns of his horse tightly and looked around the clearing with great interest. His eyes seemed to take note of every place a spell had seemingly hit. 

Patton’s horse was next to Logan’s. The usually talkative side had gone quiet and his mare seemed to give some uneasy noises. He did not get off her back instead looked over to Roman with a look that said ‘now what?’

In full honesty, Prince had no clue. He did not know if the witch was alive or if they would even stay near this clearing. The side was very uncertain how this situation would play out or if the other three would be any help to him at all. 

He refused to relay this uneasiness to the other three. They counted on him to be the strong one. The one full of confidence to counter Virgil’s doubt, to push through any barrier’s Logan would point out that they could face, and to give Patton the feeling of hope. 

Roman drew his sword and took a few steps forward so he was in the middle of the circle. 

“Witch! I know you are still alive,” he called out into the forest, “Your trick of ashes fooled me once but never again! Your spell has a hold on me and I demand to reverse it at once!” 

His words rang through the trees and slowly died away which left the four sides in utter silence. 

Roman could feel his palms sweat against the handle of his sword but stood his ground. He had to be ready for any attack that might be thrown at him. It could come from any angle at any time. 

The horses suddenly let out shrieks and tipped the two remaining riders to the ground before they tried to run off. All but Logan’s escaped since the Logical side had thought it best to get off and hold his steed still. 

Anxiety and Morality hit the ground hard with a couple of thumps.The two sides groaned in pain but otherwise seemed alright. It was a lucky break that the horses had not taken a chance to stomp on them but fled. 

It was not a lucky break when a heavy breeze seemed to blow through the clearing and seemed to circle Roman’s three companions. Logan let go of the reigns of his horse in favor to protect his eyes from the dirt. The cloud of dirt became so thick that the prince could not see the other three easily. 

“Guys!”

“Ah, Prince Roman,” a wicked voice whipped through the wind and froze the prince mid-step towards where the whirling clouds that surrounded his friends were. 

“Witch.”

“I see my clever trick did not deceive you for as long as I thought it would,” the witch chuckled, “But I guess you are not as dumb as I thought you were. You even brought companions this time to aid you.” 

Another cloud of wind moved and picked up the black pile of ash that still laid where it had the day he had killed the witch. The wind swirled it up in a dark tornado. 

“Too bad they will be no help to you. This battle is between you...” the wind spoke around him. 

The black tornado slowed to a stop to reveal not the nasty hag he had fought before but a mesmerizing, yet powerful being. 

“And me,” the creature snarled and raised a hand. 

Roman only had a second to think before they casted a spell. A deadly green shot from their finger tips and he clumsily dodged. The royal side grunted at he hit the ground hard. 

The curse still on him prevented him from doing the usual roll to catch himself. 

The side bit back the pain and rolled over just in time to block another deadly green bolt with his sword. The spell rebounded but a little too far to the right to hit its target. 

He gritted his teeth and rolled out of the way as a blue blast was sent at him. When it hit he took the chance and and pushed himself back up to his feet. The prince got up just in time to block another spell that would have hit him square in the chest. 

With a shout, Roman charged at the being before him but found himself stuck halfway there. His sword raised above his head. With a lazy flick of the creature’s finger he went flying back towards the trees.

Roman felt the wind get knocked out of him at the hit the solid surface and slide to the ground with a groan. His sword was no longer in his hands. He could feel the hopelessness in the situation welling up around him.

“Oh my dear, Prince,” the creature cooed, “You cannot rule without your grace and you cannot win this battle without it.”

Roman lifted his head to look up at the being in front of him. The thing had a smug smirk on their face and had a hand raised. In that hand a ball of electricity was being formed and somewhere in Prince’s mind he knew that if it was thrown at him he would be dead. 

“If you surrender now,” the thing continued, “I will spare your life and your friends. Your kingdom will be in good hands and you can live out your life without the knowledge that you killed them.”

Princey glanced around the clearing now in hopes to find his weapon. The sword laid just out of arms reach. He would have to be quick and cunning if he wanted to grab it and kill the creature in front of him. Cunning was not usually his forte though, that was Logic or Anxiety’s. They were the quick thinkers.

“If you do not surrender you will have to watch each of them die.” 

He snapped his head to look at the creature to see an evil smirk on their face. They were so close now. 

“You will have to watch them die one. By. One,” they twirled their finder and the dirt and dust that made the spiraling clouds thick cleared so he could see each of them clearly. 

Logan had his eyes covered still but still stood. He was the only one to be doing so. Patton was on the ground and had his hands over his ears. The noise of the wind must be loud; they probably could not hear a word that was being said. Virgil was in a ball on the ground. The dark hood of his outfit over his face and his hands over his ears as well. 

A pang of guilt ran through the prince when he saw all of them. He was supposed to protect them and if he could not than he had to save them. He glanced at the threatening ball of light in the creature’s hand and than at the sword. This was the only way. 

“Fine. You win,” Roman hung his head in defeat. “You win just...just spare them. Take the kingdom but please,spare them.” 

The creature cackled and the light of the ball faded. 

“You are pathetic,” they said with a sneer, “But what can one expect?”

They moved closer and held out a hand to the prince in front of them. 

“Still, a deal is a deal,” the being stated, “We shake on it and than you and your friends have an hour to get somewhere safe. If you do not I am not responsible for the fates that may befall you.”

“Fine.”

Roman kept his head down and slowly reached for the hand. He grabbed his loosely but did not shake. In an instant the loose grip turned hard and he pulled the being down to the ground. He moved fast to grab his sword and was happy to find that the curse did not stop him from falling over. 

“The deal is off!” 

In a quick motion he brought his sword down and hit the powerful creature right on the neck. The hand he had held in a death grip turned to snow in his hand and a scream echoed in the air. 

Roman sat there frozen for a minute, hand clutching melting snow and his sword embedded in the ground. A weight had seemingly lifted off his chest as soon as the being had change; a weight he could only guess was the evil spell that took away his gracefulness. 

A breathed in a sigh of relief but it did not last long when he heard the sound of silence. The wind that had been loudly screaming in his ears had died away. 

Princey was on his feet in an instant, no stumbling around, and hurried over to the dying cyclones. 

Logan’s disappeared first and Roman was fast to catch the Logical side before he fell onto the ground. 

“Logan? Logan can you hear me?” 

Logan coughed and slowly removed his hands from his eyes. His glasses had been scratched from the flying debris in the wind. Calculating brown eyes blinked slowly to the light before they looked up to the side that held him. 

“Logic? Are you alright?” Prince asked. 

Logan coughed and pushed himself out of the hold. He moved to adjust a tie that was not there in the armor before he settled to just readjusting his glasses. 

“Roman,” he said slowly, “I am never coming back into this place again.”

“Understood, but-.”

Screaming cut him off and both sides turned fast to where Patton’s wind had died away. The emotional side still had his hands over his ears and was screaming at the top of his lungs. 

Roman was at his side in an instant; trying to get the hands away from his ears. The action was surprisingly hard.

“Patton? Patton! You are alright! You are alright!” 

Patton did not seem to hear. He just kept screaming and Roman was at a loss for what to do. 

“Let me.”

Roman looked up at Logan in surprise but stepped back to see what would happen. He expected some sort of rational talk or a secret pressure point to get Patton calm. He did not expect the logical side to just straight out slap Morality.

“Logic!” Roman cried in horror. “That is not what we do!” 

“It got him to stop screaming and come back to his not-reality,” Logan pointed out with a shrug and looked back down at the dazed face of Patton. 

“Logan?” Patton said the name slowly; his hands still over his ears. 

“Yes, that would be my name.”

Patton shot up in an instant and wrapped his arms tightly around Logan’s neck. The logical side froze on the spot under the heart’s affection. 

“Oh Logan you saved me!”

“I-I believe it was mostly Roman’s doing,” Logan grit out, “But, yes, I suppose I did help get you to stop screaming.” 

Roman smiled at the two of them and then turned his attention to the last cyclone’s location. It had disappeared during the small display between Morality and Logic which left a dark ball on the ground. Silent and still. 

“Anxiety?” Roman said the side’s title slowly and carefully made his way over to him. He did not get close; unsure with what to do. “Virgil? Are you o-”

He paused and rethought the statement. 

“Are you hurt?” 

He expected no response but there was some relief when a second later Virgil shook his head no. The prince chanced a small step closer and crouched down next to his companion. 

“Do you need anything?” 

Once again the answer was no. Roman nodded and looked around the clearing.

“Do...do you want to leave?”

This time the answer took several seconds to come about but eventually Virgil shook his head yes. 

“Alright. I will find the horses,” Princey said and moved to stand up. 

“Hey Princey.”

Roman paused. Virgil’s voice was softer than normal and a little hoarse. He waited for him to continue and than realized that with the hood up Anxiety could not see him very well. 

“Yes, Hot Topic?”

The royal side considered it a small victory when Virgil gave a small huff that he had taken to mean it was an amused sound. Almost a laugh but not quite.

“If you get into one of these situations again don’t drag me into it.”

“No promises,” Roman chuckled and stood up fully, “I quite like having a riding companion on my way to the fight.”

Virgil made another one of those amused sounds and actually shifted some so Roman could see his eyes. 

“Yeah, well, I don’t exactly like watching you pretend to sacrifice yourself.”

Roman stopped and stared at Anxiety. He could not keep the eye contact for long. With an awkward cough he looked away and wiped some of the dirt off his white trousers. 

“Yes, well, good to know you care,” Roman said awkwardly and pretended to be more interested in a speck of dirt on his coat, “But I don’t think that was worth stalling me into getting the horses.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Virgil said and sat up slowly, “Go get them so I can go back to my roo-spot on Thomas’ couch.” 

“Oh Thomas!” Patton gasped, “We got to tell him what happened...oh I hope he wasn’t hoping for a more mythical adventure story with all of us playing a really cool character role that would lead up to a grand, together boss fight!” 

Logan stared at the side that had finally detached himself from him. 

“You watch way too many movies,” he said slowly, “You know that?”

“I do not! You just watch too little.”

* * *

 

_“I left the two to bicker and went off to find the horses._  They had only gone a little ways down the road so it was no trouble.”

Princey sat on the side of Thomas’ bed as he relayed the story to him. It was drawing to a close. Usually they would have this conversation downstairs but with Virgil having taken to camping on Thomas’ couch it had to be up here.

“We all got back on and rode back to the mind castle. Everyone changed back to their normal attire...well almost everyone. I think Patton is going to keep those robes and, well, you know the rest.”

“Do you think they are fine after that?”

“I am sure that after a week or so they will be back to their normal selves,” Roman said with a shrug, “It could have been worse. They could have been eaten but a dragon.”

Thomas nods. A thought already blooming in his head of what would happen if one of his sides ‘died’ in his mind. He pushed it off to another day. 

“Well, I am glad that was fixed and you all are okay.”

Princey stood up and smiled down at his host. 

“As am I,” he chuckled, “And this did make a very interesting bed time story.”

“It did indeed,” Thomas yawned and looked over at his alarm clock, “But I better hit the hay. You are probably exhausted as well.”

“Yes, I do need my beauty sleep after a week of chaos.”

Thomas chuckles and moves to turn off his lamp light.

“Good night, Princey.”

“The best of dreams, dear Thomas!” Roman said and sunk out with his normal flourish.

When he appeared back in the mindscape there was no tripping or breaking. It was just epic music and than silent. The other sides were sleeping and his castle was slowly fading back into the normal palace. The prince smiled sadly at that but knew everything came to an end. 

He walked to his room with all the grace he should have as what he represented and hummed a merry tune.

All was well again. 


End file.
